Page 121 of Malachi
“My phone,” I finished, understanding dawning on me.
“Huh?” Ollie questioned.
“I had left my cell in the bunker the night before, on the off chance that something went down and we had to go to Plan B, which is exactly what happened. So, Eden, you ran to the bunker and got the phone?” I urged her to continue.
“Uh huh, and called the FBI. And then he said you girls weren’t dead. And I wanted to leave, to help. But the fingers and the blood and —” she cut off, her breath hitching as emotions hit her.
“Wait, what fingers? What blood?” I asked, my hands finding her shoulders and turning her until she was facing me.
“His fingers. On the floor. And there was blood on me,” she muttered. I tried to make sense of her words, but as she looked down at her own body, seeing the blood and bruising, she began to fall apart.
“Kai…” she whimpered, her hands shaking.
“I’m here, love. I’m right here,” I whispered, emotion pricking at my own eyes. As her tears fell, I pulled her into my arms, holding her close.
“I’m still confused. There were fingers on the floor?” Naomi asked again.
“Reverend Jacob’s?” Ollie asked.
“Yes. He caught me before I got to the bunker. I fought. I really tried Malachi. I swear, I tried so hard,” she whimpered.
“I know you did, love,” I reassured her, pushing her wild hair behind her ears as tears fell down her cheeks. “I know.”
“I kicked and pushed and I even bit him, and…” Words failed her as she choked back a sob.
“You bit him?” I asked.
“I did. In the thigh. There was so much blood. But I got away. I got to the bunker. And then he was there, pulling at the door. I pulled with all my might and it closed. But he didn’t move his hand away fast enough and—”
“Oh my god, it cut his fingers off?” Delilah exclaimed quietly.
“The ends of them. Three of them,” Eden whispered, her eyes lowered and unfocused as the memory was surely playing through her head.
“You thought we were dead?” Ruth asked, turning the conversation back to the earlier question.
“I did. Everything was moving so fast, and yet in slow motion. So I ran. I’m sorry,” Eden sobbed. “I’m sorry I abandoned you. And then Talia…”
“Talia is safe. The baby is safe. We are all safe. We are okay,” Levi reassured my wife.
“Okayis going a bit far,” Gideon muttered from his spot on the floor. I released an uneasy, heavy sigh. I didn’t have the slightest clue how to broach the subject that was Gideon.
“How did you guys get away?” Ruth asked quietly.
“Fuck, it was a shit show,” Ollie groaned.
“The Reverend stopped the four of us as we got to work this morning at the church. One minute we were walking into the big room upstairs, the one that leads to the back offices?” Levi explained. “The next thing we knew, the Elders had surrounded us.”
“With a gun pointed at your head, Levi. Can’t forget that part,” Gideon scoffed.
“Oh my God,” Ruth gasped.
“He was deranged, completely unhinged. We tried to talk our way out of it, or at least Levi did. But in the end, it didn’t work out like we had hoped,” I answered as carefully as I could. I wasn’t about to throw Gideon under the bus.
“I feel like that’s putting it mildly. All the Elders just fucking lost it. And then, Gideon had to go off,” Ollie sighed. “What the fuck was that about, Gideon?” he exclaimed. Seems Ollie didn’t get the memo on throwing people under buses. I rolled my eyes.
“Ollie… not now,” Levi chastised softly.
“No, I need to know. What the hell happened?” Ollie pushed on.
